How to Plan a Dinosaur Vacation!
In 2015, I started planning an epic birthday surprise for my son, Deacon! He loved (and still loves!) dinosaurs! He couldn’t read enough dinosaur books or get enough dinosaur toys. He memorized dinosaur facts like a champ & everything in life revolved around dinos!
In one of his books, he read about a place called “Dinosaur, Colorado.” It had a cool road sign with dinosaurs on it & was close to the National Dinosaur Museum. He asked me if he could go there one day, and I said yes! I thought a dinosaur vacation sounded like a tonnnnnn of fun! I just had to figure out how to do it… We live in Virginia and I had never been out west…ever! So… I did what any mom would do…I googled dinosaur vacations!
When I started my research, I couldn’t find any information on dinosaur vacations at all! Apparently, they didn’t exist, haha! I decided to figure it out on my own and building and planning our adventure was so.much.fun! Here’s what I came up with!
The Trip Reveal!
The plan was to leave on Deacon’s 6th birthday and the trip was the only gift he was getting for his birthday! (I mean, that’s an EPIC gift- I just mean it was the only thing he was opening!) I really wanted him to have something to open, so I took a suitcase and filled it with dinosaur things he already had. Dinosaur books, his paleontologist clothes, dinosaur fossil toys, a dinosaur dig set, and a map I had made with the details of our adventure! When he opened his gift- he had to figure out what his gift was!
This is a photo of the map I made! I totally found my inner Pinterest mom and got creative! haha! I drew the map on poster paper & I used a sharpie. Then I tea stained the map, I let it dry, and then I crumpled it up. I rolled it and tied it with jute. (To tea stain: make tea & soak the paper in it! Then lay the paper flat to dry. I crumpled the paper up after it was totally dry & the tea stain + crumpled look made the map look old!)
When Deacon opened his suitcase, his reaction was the sweetest! He was so grateful, even though he knew the things in his suitcase were already his. I had tears in my eyes! It took him a second to figure it out, but when he opened the map, he cried! He was SO EXCITED to go on his dinosaur vacation! I cried when Deacon had tears in his eyes! He is such a grateful young man and I thank God for giving him to me!
Here’s our itinerary & links so you can go on a dinosaur vacation too!
The beginning of our trip…
We left our hometown of Roanoke, VA and drove to Charlotte, NC. We booked a straight flight from Charlotte, NC to Salt Lake City, UT! Deacon wore his paleontologist clothes for two days! He didn’t want to take them off!
We flew into Salt Lake City, UT because we wanted to go see all of the Dinosaur stuff in Utah first! Our first stop was Vernal, UT. This is what you will want to do there!
- Dinosaur Land! This wonderful place begins in Vernal, UT but actually goes all of the way to Jensen, UT. We flew into Salt Lake City, got a rental car and headed to Vernal! We skipped everything in Vernal on our first day and drove through to Jensen, UT so we could get to dinosaur bones as fast as we could! Haha! We went back to Vernal for our hotel, meals & to see some of the dinosaur fun on day 3. We were all about the dinosaur fossils on days 1-2!
- Our first stop was to Dinosaur National Monument, which is a National Park!
We went here two days in a row because we loved it so much!!!
On day two of our dinosaur adventure, we headed to the Dinosaur National Monument for a second day of fun AND we went to Dinosaur, Colorado to take a picture with the road sign!
We entered the Dinosaur National Monument area from Utah (the western entrance) but the sign/gateway is actually in Colorado. And to our surprise, everything we wanted to see is really in Utah! (This is the reason we flew into Salt Lake City!) Having seen this sign in several of Deacon’s dinosaur books, we really thought all of the fun would be right around the sign! Nope! Basically, this is all you’ll see here. 🙂
We drove to the sign, took a quick picture, and then went back to the Dinosaur National Monument to see more dinosaur fossils! Not much to see at the Dinosaur, Colorado sign, but it was cool to see the road sign in person! I’m glad we did this!
Day 3 in Vernal, Utah!
We spent day 3 touring Vernal! They had a dinosaur scavenger hunt that ended at a candy shop. The kids got chocolate dinosaurs for completing the dinosaur hunt! We drove around Vernal looking for statues, signs, etc. all about dinosaurs. I definitely recommend doing this if you have extra time!
Quick tip:
Pack snacks! It’s a lot of gorgeous scenic driving, but not a lot of places to stop if you’re hungry! My mother in law is an awesome roadtripper and she thought ahead! We had plenty of food for the car. Thanks Grandma!
Back to the Trip!
Our 4th day was spent driving from Vernal, Utah to Thermopolis, Wyoming. There are lots of “dig for a day” experiences in Utah and Colorado. Depending on the age of your kiddos, you may be able to do these. Deacon was 6 and Grace was 4, so we needed a “dig for the day” experience that would accommodate the whole family. I found one in Thermopolis, WY!
I really wanted this to be the perfect day for Deacon, so our 4th day was a travel day and a relaxing day once we got to Thermopolis and the dig was planned for the next day. I figured it would be smart to rest first!
We Found a Dinosaur Fossil!
Our experience in Thermopolis, WY was INCREDIBLE! Y’all, I had prayed over this day for years! I knew the desire of Deacon’s heart was to discover a dinosaur fossil, and HE DID!
We had our “dig for a day” experience and the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis. We spent the day at two different dig sights, and at dig sight #2, Deacon discovered a juvenile Camarasaurus Claw! His name was written in the book as having found the claw. And my dinosaur loving boy couldn’t have been happier! It’s a moment he will remember for his entire life!
We have the fossil #, so the paleontologists recommended Deacon return in a few years to see how they are doing excavating the dinosaur. They said it could even be a full dinosaur, laying down! We really need to go back!
If you’re trying to identify the fossil in the photo- look for the white out! They painted white out on the fossil so it would be easy to find again.
The photos in the museum are the exact dinosaur Deacon discovered at our dig sight!
Note: once Deacon discovered the fossil, they shut our dig sight down! Haha! It makes sense! When you discover a fossil, the experts need to do the rest of the work to remove it safely. But I’m proud of Deacon and mercy me! It’s a moment we will all always treasure!
Things to pack for your Dinosaur Dig:
- Sunscreen! Even if it’s a cool day, you’ll want sunscreen! Our weather was in the 70’s and gorgeous- but we definitely spent a lot of time in the sun!
- Water bottles! They had water for us, but it was nice to have our own.
- Snacks! They provided lunch, and we were thankful for extra snacks that day.
- Cellphone/Camera! You may find that you don’t have great cell phone reception at your dig site. Put your phone on airplane mode to save your battery and take tons of photos!
- Bring a hat and sunglasses! You’ll want a hat and sunglasses to protect your face from the sun!
- Pants & hiking boots! They’ll protect your legs & feet!
- Note: watch out for scorpions and rattlesnakes! We didn’t see any, but they had been spotted the day before.
The rest of our trip!
Chase your dreams!
Our dinosaur vacation was WONDERFUL! We went to several museums, we had our dig for the day experience, we did everything we could think of for the love of dinosaurs. And this was Deacon’s dream come true!
Just a fun tip! Talk to your kids about their dreams and do your best to find a way to make them happen! It may take time. It may take figuring out a way to make it happen because it’s never been done before. But where there is a will, there is a way & I can tell you- this dinosaur vacation was one our entire family will always treasure! I’m so glad we did it!
His,
Rachel
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